Dimensions and Socio-Economic and Environmental Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Health and Well-Being: A Scoping Review

In addition to being responsible for the death and infection of millions of people around the world, COVID-19 also created a range of social, economic, environmental, and mental health challenges. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating various dimensions, challenges, and effects of the pandemic in the aforementioned areas.

The present scoping review was conducted in 2022. All published articles in the field of aforementioned dimensions were searched from the beginning of 2020 to the end of April 2022. Searches were made in English language databases including Medline through PubMed, Scopus, Web of Sciences and also manual search in Persian language databases including SID and Magiran. After reviewing gray and manual texts, finally 84 final articles were selected. The data were analyzed and classified using the content analysis method using the "framework of structural and intermediate determinants of health" of the World Health Organization.

Cases such as the reduction of the gross national product, the imbalance of supply and demand, the urgent need to strengthen social protection systems, the increase in inequality, the reduction of the social rights of women and children, and the reduction of access to health services are among structural factors and cases such as tourism damages, decrease in mental well-being, increase in irritability, anger and tension, fear of COVID-19 in the elderly and exposure to the spectrum of mental problems were among the intermediate determinant factors that have led to direct and indirect effects on the justice, health, and well-being of societies.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent actions of the governments, such as nationwide quarantines and the creation of numerous restrictions, have led to a wide range of social, economic and environmental effects on societies. Countries need effective and extensive measures in determinant factors to get rid of the negative effects of the spread of this disease on the health and well-being of people in the long run.